The USD women’s volleyball team was in a training room on Monday when the updated national rankings were scheduled to come out. Somebody got on a computer and looked them up.

After a victory over No. 1-ranked USC on Friday en route to a 3-0 weekend, the Toreros had climbed a remarkable seven spots – to No. 2 in the nation.

Squeals ensued, with the players mixing joy with an almost equal amount of disbelief.

“It was incredible,” senior outside hitter Chloe Ferrari said. “Everyone was running around screaming. We watched these teams play in high school. We thought, ‘God, I’d love to be on that team.’ And now we’re beating those teams.

On Tuesday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion, for the first time in school history in any Division I sport, the Toreros took the floor ranked as the second-best team in the country. The first match with that distinction was made sweeter by the showdown against crosstown rival San Diego State, and though the play was sloppy on both sides, USD emerged with a 3-0 victory, 25-12, 25-20, 25-21.

The Toreros raised their record to 8-1 and are clearly the superior team to the unranked Aztecs (5-5), but USD also got a taste of big-target humility. On a team that usually has multiple players in double digits for kills, not a single Torero reached that zone.

“It’s really exciting to be No. 2 because we’re worked really hard this year,” said Lozic, who was recruited via video from her native Belgrade, Serbia. “But it’s also a lot of pressure. We’ve upset a lot of teams, and now when we come out and play unranked teams, there’s a fear of losing to them. We don’t want to throw this away by losing to an unranked team.”

In their first five matches of the season, the Toreros beat No. 11 Hawaii, No. 11 Iowa State, and No. 18 Illinois, all on the road. Then they returned home for their own USD Tournament, and on Friday dominated the top-ranked Trojans with a 3-1 win.

“It was their confidence,” said USD coach Jennifer Petrie of what stood out for her against USC. “They went into that match believing they were going to win. Going into matches, it’s easier playing a ranked opponent than when you’ve got the target on your back.”

Perhaps feeling a letdown from the weekend, the Toreros weren’t very sharp against the Aztecs despite never trailing in the first set. SDSU played poorly in the second, losing nine points on errors.

The third set was more competitive, with the Aztecs holding a 20-18 advantage at one point after junior outside hitter Michelle Waber nailed one of her match-high 11 kills. But Ferrari scored points on a kill and block, Lozic on a kill and Brown on a kill to power the Toreros back to the eventual 25-21 closing win.